I've had it. My recently received homeowners insurance premium just topped 9k. Coupled with ridiculously high property taxes, it's making it difficult for poor ol' retirees to lavish money on new keyboards and stuff. Although I hate leaving this great (most of the time) Florida weather, we (the wife and I) have purchased a lovely lakefront home up in Roswell, GA. Although it's in a private, gated, country club/golf community with lots of ammenities, my HO insurance is @ $1400. Plus, with all the "elderly" tax breaks, my property tax is less than half of what it is now, here in the Tampa area. More importantly, in Georgia, houses actually have basements, perfect for hosting that "dream" studio, billiard table, and super bar. We close on the house Dec. 1 although we plan to do some minor renovations before we move in. Besides, Fla. winters are nicer than GA winters and we still have to sell our current house.

Miami Mo and other coastal Floridians, how are you guys able to deal with these ridiculous tax and insurance hikes? The music business must be better than I remember it.

Anyhooo...any Synthzone members in the north Atlanta area?

chas

Chas, you will be close enough for us to visit you...I hear the cost of living in georgia is "Peanuts"..Say hello to Jimmy....[Carter}..

cgiles:
Good that you are making that move before we unhappy Californians run out of coastal and desert options (Oregon, Arizona, Nevada). The Southeast is next. Get ready for more CA license plates. And we already speak Spanish.

I pay more to insure my son's old Chevy van each year than you pay for your HO insurance in total. You don't even want to guess what out HO insurance is, with fire and earthquake riders.

Wow, I'm glad we don't have those numbers in Louisiana. I'd have to get a REAL job. Oh, that's right, I have one.
Anyway, best of luck with your move.
It's cold here today by the way, high of only 61. Probably too cool for golf without a sweater.

DonM

Fran, you're talking about one of the people I most admire. I've already been on one "build" (Habitat for Humanity) with him and plan on doing another if health issues don't interfere. I missed the one he just did in Bombay (Mumbai), India because of some health issues. He truly is a "good person" and a great American. I plan to be more like him....as soon as I finish my anger management program. E-A-G-L-E-S.

chas

We do need more Jimmy's...You are right , he has always been a great man..imagine if we can find another poitician like him.

Interesting post. My in laws live in Ocala and my wife and I are considering a move in the future the Ocala area. Mostly because property taxes and auto insurance are much lower than here where we live in RI. I'm assuming your high cost of insurance is due to your proximity to the coast? Good luck in Georgia.



[This message has been edited by Stephenm52 (edited 11-17-2006).]

The reason things got so out of hand in Florida is because the corrupt, inept politicians there, in particular the Insurance Commissioner, allowed the insurance industry to bully them into making a law that the insurance industry only looks at it's Florida losses and profits when setting rates, NOT at it's losses and profits across the whole US. So you get a national insurance company puts a spin-off department in Florida, and if the main company shows a HUGE profit, that doesn't affect the loss in one state, so they can charge MASSIVE amounts for insurance, despite actually making a profit nationally.

A disgrace. Vote the bums out......

YEA! Chas, I go to Atlanta once a month to work with one of my partners on Home Depot projects. I'm about 6 1/2 hours from there!


ROAD TRIP...ROAD TRIP!

Hope to see you early next year!
(Maby we can play some country music together-as long as the country is BRAZIL!).

Russ (Buck) Lay

I live down the road in Charlotte county(100 miles South) and my homeowners and taxes are $1200 each. Probably the difference is that I live in a $200,000 home that is three miles from the ocean.

The homeowners will rise 70% next year though. I am retired(except for playing out), and it is getting harder.

Fran...Chas...a few years back, I went to a Habitat dinner, and President Carter was there. Still an "old school" gentleman really rtying to make a difference...a rarity, these days.


Russ

Please don't take this wrong, but there are differing points of view on the insurance thing.
Hurricanes ARE going to hit the Florida coast, sooner or later. You can build a house there and expect it to get hit, and pay through the nose for insurance, or you can not build a house there. Either way, hurricanes don't hit where I live, and I really don't want to share the cost of that insurance.
I don't think there's an easy answer, but if you look up "corrupt politicans" in the dictionary it will show a map of Louisiana!
One governor is still in jail, and he was most likely the LEAST corrupt we've had.
Just another point of view.
DonM

Jimmy is doing some great humanitarian work, and I don't want to start a political debate here, but let's not forget that this country's highest peacetime inflation rate was during the late 70's, when Jimmy was President ...
t.

Hate Insurance Companies
Love Jimmy Carter



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Larry
SynthZone Frapper

Although my wife thinks I already have enough bad influences in my life, a visit from you, Russ, would be most welcome . By the time you get there, I should have learned some Pedal Steel (for our jam session) and memorized a good chunk of the Hank Williams fakebook. Seriously, we have a nice roomy (4/5.5 - don't ask why it has so many baths???) house and we love company, especially fellow musicians. You would be most welcome.

chas

Oddly enough, Steve, there seem to be parts of the state that aren't as badly affected by the insurance problem, but here in the Tampa area it's out of control. The (last resort) state run Citizens Insurance Co. has to, by law, charge 20% more than the highest quoted commercial premium. One of the local TV stations ran the case of a guy in South Tampa whose house (shack, really) had been appraised for $124,000 and got an insurance bill of $5600 from Citizens. This was extreme but shows the extent of the problem. When we moved here just over two years ago, our premium was @ $5400, now it's over $9000. Unless there is some legislative relief, only the very wealthy will be able to afford to live here (or the uninsured). If you do end up shoping for a house in Florida, make sure you get several insurance estimates before you sign on the dotted line.

chas

PS: It is nice and warm here, though.


[This message has been edited by cgiles (edited 11-17-2006).]

[This message has been edited by cgiles (edited 11-17-2006).]

I would like to first say that Jimmy Carter was a good president that make a big mistake by surrounding himself with A$$E$ and a very bad cabinet that destroyed the good he keep trying to do..he was a peoples president....
second, come down here where my property taxes just went up to $150.00 a year from
$115.00 a year last year.....it just makes me mad...however, we don't have Mexican FEMA
down here so no handouts and the insurance for hurricanes down here is through the roof
better to save your money until you need it to rebuild or repair after a storm....
TR

So what you are saying, DonM, is that if you have an automobile accident, the cost to the insurance company should not get shared amongst ALL it's automotive policy holders, just the ones who have accidents?

That's not insurance..... that's robbery.

Florida residents pay money to insurance companies that also cover California earthquakes, and Arkansan tornados, and Oregonian floods. Why are our burdens not shared as equally as these others'?

Damned, living aboard a 52-foot sailboat is looking better every day. No property taxes, insurance rates are still very reasonable, slip rent is less than property tax, and it usually includes electricity. And, if you don't like the weather, put up the sails and head for another part of the wold.

Up here in the People's Republic of Maryland we too were slammed with higher tax bills after last year's hurricane season. Keep in mind, however, that we didn't have one that hit our shores--the insurance companies just screwed us, and the Maryland State Insurance Comission, which is run by ex-insurance industry CEOs, gave the companies their blessings. Now, the public service commission, which is a similar agency, is allowing the electric company to raise its rates by 72 percent.

I have been fighting my property tax increases for more than 35 years, and when I walk into the tax office I'm armed to the teeth with solid information that refutes their increase justifications. Until this past assessment, I have beat the bastards into the ground, but this time I lost. Ironically, one of the individuals that was sitting on the tax appeal board was an old friend that I had not seen in about 10 years. He voted against me! Paybacks are hell, and one day he's gonna' need a favor from me!

As for the insurance, you have to shop wisely for home-owners insurance, and do so on an annual basis. I have been able to lower my insurance burden on a half-dozen occasions during the past three decades, and the irony of this is I currently am back to the first carrier I had. I went with higher deductables, and a more realistic replacement cost. Some companies claimed they could not replace my home for what I said, but those who wanted my business eventually caved in and agreed with me.

Now, all I have to do is convice my wife that sailboat life ain't so bad!

Cheers,

Gary

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Travlin' Easy

That's not what I said at all. What I said, and I will rephrase, is why build a house where you KNOW there is an extreme danger, whether it be a house in the hurricane path, or a house on the Mississippi river bed. There WILL be a hurricane and there will be a flood. For a tornado to strike twice in the same place is very rare.
I feel the same way about earthquakes. If you live on a fault line, expect to get all shook up, but don't expect me to build the house back for you.
Car insurance is underwritten by area. When I moved from Arkansas to Louisiana, about 50 miles, by car insurance doubled. Same car, same coverage
I said there is no easy answer.
While we're at it, I also think we should cut off 90 percent of foreign aid and use that money to solve such problems as insurance rates, health care, and border security.
RANT, RANT!
DonM

If we stopped waging war on countries that have never attacked us, we could afford health care and border security and pay off the national debt AND give away all the foreign aid we wanted.

But where's the profit for Haliburton in that....?

....and get the home interest rates up to 16% again

zuki

Diki,
I wonder how long it would take Haliburton to develop an alternate energy source if they tried? A week maybe! You're right-it's all about the dollar.
Back to music, my brain is tired worrying about stuff I can't do anything about.
DonM

Amen, DonM.......

I'm off to wage war on a six-pack...... cover me!

Careful, big guy, you're in Bush Country .

chas

It's all funny money. How many HUNDRED BILLION DOLLARS for Iraq? How many HUNDRED BILLION DOLLARS for Katrina/Rita? Where is all of this money coming from? What about the interest on TRILLIONS OF DOLLARS of debt and how about the TRILIONS OF DOLLARS of debt, itself? More funny money. Lots of funny money around, isn't it. They just print more money, it's the biggest racket in history. The USA is a big lie, a big scheme, all by itself.


------------------
Bill
Yamaha PSR2000

Watch the door, on your way out.

Testy aren't we....but you are right!!!

...Land that I LOVE, baby.

And I think this thread is done now. Hey I must be frank and confess that I have never been very trusting of governments in ANY country. I grew up in the 60s during the Vietnam war ( only just narrowly missing being drafted in Australia to go fight in that war ) and generally tend to regard all government representatives with suspicion until they prove themselves otherwise. Though Jimmy Carter certainly has proved himself to be a man of honor and has achieved some amazing things and I give him full credit for his work. But generally I think goverment representatives are all too concerned with their own self interest. But don't mistake them for the people they represent. That is not at all fair.

Don't attack other nations and think that people from there won't take offense.
I don't think this is the place for political discussion and criticism. There are other forums better suited for for that. But just NOT here!!! Just accept people for who they are not who they are ruled by. We all love the countries we come from so we aren't different at all fundamentally.


[This message has been edited by Nigel (edited 11-23-2006).]